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1984 Monaco Grand Prix
3 June | officialname = XLII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco | circuit = Circuit de Monaco | location = Monte Carlo, Monaco | circuittype = Temporary Street circuit | lapdistance = 3.312 | laps = 31 (of scheduled 76) | distance = 102.672 | pole = Alain Prost | polenation = FRA | poleteam = | poletime = 1:22.661 | fastestlap = 1:54.334 | fastestlapdriver = Ayrton Senna | fastestlapnation = BRA | fastestlapteam = | fastestlapnumber = 24 | winner = Alain Prost | winnernation = FRA | winnerteam = | second = Ayrton Senna | secondteam = | secondnation = BRA | third = René Arnoux | thirdteam = | thirdnation = FRA }} The 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, otherwise officially known as the XLII Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco, was the sixth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo on the 3 June 1984.'Monaco GP, 1984', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2015), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr394.html, (Accessed 01/03/2019) The race would be remembered for stunning break-out drive from future Champion Ayrton Senna, as heavy rain saw the race brought to a premature end as the Brazilian closed on eventual winner Alain Prost. It was the aforementioned Prost who had starred in qualifying, with the Championship leader claiming pole for . Nigel Mansell was his closest challenger in his , while Senna claimed thirteenth in the new . Qualifying would also be notable for a huge accident for Martin Brundle, although the Brit would fortunately escape without injury. Rain throughout the morning on raceday ensured that the start was delayed, although after 45 minutes of waiting there was still no sign of the water disappearing. Prost duly led away from the start from Mansell, with those two able to break clear as the two s took each other out at Sainte Devote just behind. The rain continued to fall as the early laps unfolded, with Niki Lauda dancing his McLaren-TAG up to third with two excellent moves on the s. Mansell, meanwhile, would eye up a move on Prost as Lauda broke free of the scarlet cars, while Senna was sneaking his way up the order. By lap eleven Mansell had found a way past Prost, with the black-gold Lotus also able to dance away from the McLaren immediately after. However, just five laps later Prost was back into the lead, for Mansell's Lotus was buried in the barriers at Casino Square. That carnage put Senna up into third, with the Brazilian suddenly surging past Lauda for second. He duly began to catch Prost, by that staged twenty seconds clear, with the Frenchman soon seen waving at the officials to stop the race. Ultimately it was clerk of the course Jacky Ickx who stopped the race, stepping onto the circuit at the end of lap 31 with the red and chequered flags. Prost duly swept home to claim victory, just ahead of a furious Senna, while a stunning drive from Stefan Bellof saw the only naturally aspirated car in the field finish third. Unfortunately for Bellof, his impressive run would go officially unrecognised a few weeks later, with the retroactive disqualification of seeing René Arnoux promoted into third. Because of the much shortened race distance (31 of 76 laps) half points were awarded, leaving Prost 10.5 ahead of teammate Lauda in the title hunt. Background The traditional trip to the Circuit de Monaco and Monte Carlo would be made in early summer, with the edition of the FIA Formula One World Championship gathering for the race on the 3 June.A.H., 'Reflections in the Monte Carlo puddles', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 01/07/1984), https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1984/84/reflections-monte-carlo-puddles, (Accessed 01/03/2019) As ever, there was little change to the circuit ahead of the 1984 edition of the Grand Prix, although plans to re-profile the Nouvelle Chicane to slow the cars down. Regardless, those plans were overshadowed by a battle over television rights, with FISA and the Automobile Club de Monaco at odds over coverage of the race.'6. Monaco 1984', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1984/monaco.aspx, (Accessed 01/03/2019) TV Tensions The dispute came about after the ACM, responsible for the organisation of the event, sold a significant part of the TV rights package for the race to ABC, an American TV company ahead of the 1983 race. This was a breach of the Concorde Agreement signed by all of the teams, sponsors and organisers for Formula One, with FOCA, and hence FISA, denied the spoils of coverage of the Monaco Grand Prix. FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre's initial response was to remove the Monaco Grand Prix from the calendar late in , when news of the deal emerged. The race seemed to have been salvaged soon after, with ACM President Michel Boeri promising to cancel the ACM's contract with ABC. Yet, by early March 1984 there had been no cancellation, prompting FISA to send a demand to the ACM for 7.5% of the TV rights, or the race would be cancelled. The ACM stood firm, with Prince Rainier III leading a legal challenge against FISA's demands through the FIA. Ultimately the court would appear to rule in favour of the ACM, deciding that the contract between the ACM and ABC had been signed before the terms of the FOCA-FISA Concorde Agreement came into effect. However, upon a challenge by FISA a new court date required, although it would only take place after the Monaco Grand Prix had been staged. Elsewhere, there would be tensions over media coverage of the event from photographers and journalists, whom sought protection from getting barred access to the garages during the race weekend. Entrants There was to be one significant change to the entry list ahead of the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, with a revised line-up emerging at . Indeed, with Teo Fabi occupied with his seat in Indy Car, it was his brother Corrado who would partner Nelson Piquet in Monaco, a swap that had been pre-arranged at the start of the season. In terms of the cars, meanwhile, designed Gordon Murray had been re-developing the bodywork of the BT53s, in hopes of appeasing the team's rather temperamental BMW engines after numerous turbo failures. Elsewhere, were unchanged heading into the race, knowing that Stefan Bellof and Martin Brundle would likely fail to qualify given their lack of turbocharged power, and the fact that the Monte Carlo grid was limited to 20 starters. Likewise, were prepared to lose Thierry Boutsen, although Marc Surer was expected to make the cut with his BMW engined A7. Another team set to struggle to qualify were , with Piercarlo Ghinzani only having one turbocharged car, as was the lone of Mauro Baldi. Over at , meanwhile, there had been a change in the supplier of their turbochargers, with Patrick Tambay and Derek Warwick set to use Garrett turbos for the forseeable future. This brought them into line with their customers and , both of whom used the small turbo charger as it produced less lag than the factory turbo. Otherwise, both Ligier and Lotus were unchanged, with François Hesnault and Andrea de Cesaris in for the former, and Elio de Angelis and Nigel Mansell piloting the former's cars. The engined contingent, meanwhile, would arrive with high hopes, in spite of the fact that Spirit were set to miss out on a grid slot. Indeed, , the de facto factory squad with Hart, arrived with their new TG184 for lead driver Ayrton Senna, sporting the latest Hart engine design, with his teammate Johnny Cecotto using his usual car. There was less optimism over with the team, meanwhile, with Jonathan Palmer and Phillippe Alliot both Monte Carlo virgins. arrived with new KKK turbos for their factory cars, although neither the drivers, Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever, nor boss Giampaolo Pavanello, would officially confirm the change. Another team with a some modified turbos in Monaco were the Championship leading squad, with Alain Prost and Niki Lauda getting new Porsche sourced turbos, as well as complimentary camshafts. , meanwhile, were completely unchanged, with René Arnoux and Michele Alboreto listed as their pilots, while Manfred Winkelhock and the completed the field. Championship Challenge Into the Championship and Prost had seen his lead cut to six points after the French Grand Prix, with Lauda having leapt up to second to challenge his teammate. Arnoux, meanwhile, found himself level with the now third placed Warwick, the Brit having moved ahead of the Italian on count-back in Dijon. Elsewhere, de Angelis completed the top five ahead of Rosberg, while defending Champion Piquet was still yet to score. In the Manufacturers' Championship it was still advantage McLaren-TAG arriving in Monaco, the Anglo-German squad having extended their lead to twenty points last time out. Ferrari had remained their closest challengers, albeit with just a point between themselves and Renault in third, while Team Lotus-Renault had solidified their hold on fourth. Williams-Honda completed the top five, with nine manufacturers on the board ahead of the trip to the Principality. Entry List The full entry list for the is shown below: Practice Overview Qualifying Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix of would see the field fight for 20 spots on the grid, meaning seven drivers would miss out on starting the race. The fastest twenty in the field would be discovered across two qualifying sessions, held on the afternoons of Thursday and Saturday ahead of the race, leaving the two morning sessions on each day for race practice. As for a target time, the top drivers would hope to best the circuit record, 1:23.281 set by René Arnoux en-route to pole in 1982. Thursday Qualifying It was Michele Alboreto and who topped the times on Thursday, with a busy hour and a half of running seeing a lot of drivers having their best laps hobbled by slower cars. Indeed, even Alboreto's best effort, a 1:23.581, had been recorded with the Italian getting baulked, although many suspected that there was more to come from the other cars in the field. Indeed, Patrick Tambay managed to record the second fastest time of the afternoon in spite of numerous minor issues for , while Alain Prost quietly went about recording a 1:23.944 in the . Elsewhere, battled against some harrowing understeer throughout the session, with Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite well off the pace. , meanwhile, were getting used to their new Michelin tyres, while Eddie Cheever was among the stragglers after a series of engine issues. Likewise, the trio of Martin Brundle, Stefan Bellof (both ) and Marc Surer ( ) were off the pace, with their lack of engine power costing them dearly on the short circuit. Saturday Qualifying Saturday's qualifying would see a universal increase in pace, resulting in an interesting, if short-lived, battle for pole. Indeed, in the midst of a barrage of do-or-die laps, Prost delivered an excellent effort of 1:22.661, aided by the fact that he was one of only a handful of drivers to get a clean lap on their "quali" tyres. Indeed, teammate Niki Lauda was less fortunate, coming across a slow of Mauro Baldi late on in his lap, leaving him eighth. Sharing the front row with Prost would be Nigel Mansell in the #12 , another driver who managed to find a gap in the traffic where others could not. His 1:22.752 therefore edged out both of the Ferraris, Arnoux sneaking ahead of Alboreto in the dying moments of the session, while the two Renaults would get enough time in between their various engine murmurs to claim fifth and sixth, Derek Warwick the faster of the duo. Next up was Andrea de Cesaris in the , suggesting that the Renault engine was fairly strong in Monte Carlo, while Rosberg just managed to grab a spot in the top ten behind Nelson Piquet. tried in vain to qualify for the race, before a huge accident ended his slim chances.]]Indeed, Piquet may well have gone faster had he been able to set a time later in the session, for he would blow the turbos in both his race and the spare during the final hour. Likewise, temporary teammate Corrado Fabi would miss out on making a last blast as he destroyed his turbo, while Cheever missed out on a spot on the grid completely when his engine let go. The other BMW engined cars of Manfred Winkelhock and Thierry Boutsen fared better in terms of reliability, although the latter would fail to qualify. At the back of the field, meanwhile, only one of the naturally aspirated (ie engined) cars made it onto the grid, with Bellof just making the cut with a 1:26.117. He and teammate Brundle had been evenly matched throughout, but a heavy accident for the Brit midway through the session ended his hopes, Brundle being whisked away to the medical centre for checks. Winkelhock, meanwhile, was left with a bruised shoulder after his own heavy accident at Loews, meaning Surer had half a hope of inheriting a spot on the grid if the German's was forced to withdraw. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. Grid Race Raceday dawned dark, murky, and with rain sweeping towards the Principality across the Mediterranean, which duly arrived just as the morning warm-up began. Niki Lauda end the warm-up fastest, although his concerns over the safety standards going into the start of the race prompted the Austrian to appeal to FOCA boss Bernie Ecclestone that the inside of the tunnel be watered to ensure that the drivers' wet tyres did not burn up on the dry tarmac. Ecclestone and the organisers relented, with the start delayed by almost forty-five minutes as the tunnel was hosed with water. Report and Nigel Mansell blasted clear at the start of the race.]]The start itself would be held in very wet conditions, with pole sitter Alain Prost managing to slither off the line ahead of Nigel Mansell, who had spent most of the warm-up practising his starts. They were chased by the s of Michele Alboreto and René Arnoux, although the Frenchman would find himself under pressure from Derek Warwick as the field surged towards Sainte Devote. Indeed, the Brit's optimistic lunge around the outside of the Ferrari would be a rather costly one, with the first accident of the afternoon resulting from their little scrap. Somewhat inevitably Arnoux forced Warwick wide, causing the Brit to slither straight into the barriers on the outside of the circuit and out of the race. Things would go from bad to worse for a split second later, for Warwick's teammate Patrick Tambay was left with no where to go, and duly slammed into the back of the Brit, partially blocking the circuit. The rest of the field slowly picked their way around the incident, with Elio de Angelis and Riccardo Patrese the biggest losers having ended up on the wrong side of the incident. Once the field had scrambled clear of the incident the two Renault pilots emerged, with Warwick the first out with no serious injuries, although he did limp away from the scene. Teammate Tambay, however, had to be carried from the car by the marshals, the heavy impact having caused a major suspension piece the pierce the cockpit and break the Frenchman's left fibula. Fortunately Tambay would escape without any life threatening injuries, although it seemed that Renault would have to look for a replacement driver was well as build two new RE50s ahead of the expensive trip to Canada later that month. On track, meanwhile, it was still Prost leading from Mansell, Alboreto and Arnoux, before a gap back to the rest of the field led by Keke Rosberg in the . Elsewhere the two s were running around with damage, François Hesnault having hit teammate Andrea de Cesaris in the first corner melee, leaving the Frenchman with a broken nose. Indeed, de Cesaris seemed to have escaped without damage, only for a brush against a kerb to break his weakened suspension late on the opening lap, forcing him to retire. stalks Jacques Laffite and Manfred Winkelhock early on.]]The early stages would see a number of incidents drastically re-order the field, with Johnny Cecotto spinning and stalling at the start of the second lap having been in the middle of the pack. His teammate Ayrton Senna, meanwhile, was flying up the order, running well inside the top ten after taking eighth away from Jacques Laffite early on lap three. The secret to the Brazilian's success was to be found in Toleman's tactics, with Senna only running with two thirds of a tank of fuel as the British squad gambled on the race reaching the two hour time limit rather than race distance. Elsewhere, Lauda was on the move in the second of the s, taking fourth away from Alboreto on lap four having shuffled past Rosberg early on. By lap six Lauda would clear the second Ferrari's when he overtook Arnoux going up the hill into Beaurivage, before beginning his lone pursuit of teammate Prost and Mansell. Indeed, while the Frenchman had managed to build up a fifteen second lead over the two Ferraris in the early laps, he had been powerless to shake the determined Mansell, whose loomed threateningly in his mirrors. However, no move was forthcoming from Mansell, and with Lauda a long way from catching the lead duo, attention focused back down the field, where two rookies were showing why they had earned a place in F1. The more prominent performance was that of Senna, who would ease past the of Manfred Winkelhock to claim seventh as Lauda moved into third. However, the arguably more impressive run was being made by Stefan Bellof in his engined , with the German breaking into the top ten with a move on Laffite in spite of his huge power disadvantage. Further down the field Hesnault, after causing his teammate's retirement on the first lap was causing more trouble when he collided with the of Riccardo Patrese when the Italian tried to lunge inside the Ligier. Patrese was duly forced to pit for repairs, while a seemingly unhindered Hesnault carried on without a second thought. A lap later and the Frenchman had his third incident of the afternoon, bouncing off the wall at Sainte-Devote and down the escape road, only to again rejoin the circuit with no damage on his Ligier. They duly gained further ground when the Ferrari of Alboreto spun off at Sainte-Devote, the Ferrari driver stalling his car in the middle of the escape road. Alboreto sat in his car gesticulating to the marshals to get a push-start, who would eventually get the Italian back underway as his car was in a dangerous position. Rosberg duly inherited fifth, although his misfiring engine made him a prime target for the flying Senna, while Laffite stopped the sister car for a new set of tyres under the false impression that he had a puncture. More chaos unfolded as the early laps ticked away, with Senna brushing the wall exiting the tunnel while pursuing the aforementioned Rosberg, putting a slight crease in his front suspension. Behind, the debutante Corrado Fabi would end his race with a spin into the barriers at Portier, with the marshals having to partially block the track in order to recover the Italian racer as quickly as possible. Ultimately, however, they were too slow for Prost, who slithered to a stop at the scene of the accident and knocked over one of the marshals midway through lap ten. As Prost tried to get around the accident Mansell was able to sneak through to claim the lead, with a furious Prost squirrelling away from the stranded Brabham to try and catch the Brit. Behind, Lauda had gained a little ground on the duo before Prost's stop, while Senna's charge had carried him up to fourth, with the Toleman also crawling towards the back of the Austrian's McLaren. The Brazilian's progress was being matched by Bellof, who would also move past Rosberg, while Hesnault's race was to finally come to an end when his engine expire on the climb up to Beaurivage. Back with the leader and Mansell was easing away from Prost at the head of the field, the Brit showing great confidence in spite of the fact that he was leading a Grand Prix for the first time. It therefore came as a huge shock when the Lotus-Renault spun into the barriers at Massenet on lap fifteen, leaving Mansell with crippled suspension. He duly limped around as far as Mirabeau before his rear suspension collapsed completely, leaving a distraught Mansell on the sidelines as Prost swept back into the lead. It was now a McLaren-TAG one-two at the head of the field, although the increasingly impressive Senna would decisively claim second from Lauda on lap nineteen with a lunge at Rascasse. He duly blasted away to try and catch Prost, leaving Lauda to eventually end his race beached on a wet kerb at Casino Square, with the Austrian having fallen into the sights of Arnoux. Behind, Bellof was catching the aforementioned Frenchman at an impressive rate in the Tyrrell, while Elio de Angelis was inching back towards the points after his unfortunate start. By the time that Senna had taken second from Lauda, Prost had established a thirty second lead, a gap which remained fairly stable in spite of the fact that Senna could set a series of fastest laps. However, an increasingly noticeable braking issue for Prost would see the Frenchman begin to lose pace, allowing Senna to take more and more out of the McLaren with each passing lap. A similar pattern was unfolding behind, with Bellof hounding Arnoux's Ferrari, while Winkelhock's race was brought to an end when he smashed into the barriers on the exit of the tunnel, the legacy of a collision with Rosberg that had resulted in damage to the German's ATS. By lap 27 Bellof was on the back of Arnoux, and duly opted to make his move on the Ferrari on the run to Beaurivage. Arnoux duly shut the door, although all that did was give Bellof a chance to lunge inside the Ferrari at Mirabeau, using the better line. Arnoux once again did all he could to dissuade the German, squeezing the Tyrrell against the inside wall, but a quick scramble across the wet kerb, and a brief brush of tyres, and Bellof was in third. was an unexpected star of the race having qualified last.]]With thirty laps completed it was clear that the conditions were getting worse rather than better, with fewer cars on circuit to clear away the standing water. Ultimately, clerk of the course Jacky Ickx led the calls to end the race and, in agreement with Derek Ongaro, representing the organisers, duly stepped out onto the circuit at the end of lap 33 with both a red and chequered flag in his hands. Prost, who had been waving at the officials and his pitcrew to stop the race for several laps, duly pulled to a stop after crossing the finish line, with Senna flashing past a few seconds later. Post-race It took Senna another lap to see that the race had been stopped, with the Brazilian believing that he had won the race after seeing Prost stopped at the side of the road. He was therefore apoplectic when his Toleman mechanics told him he had been classified in second, with the order reset to how the race had stood at the end of lap 31. In a rage, Senna openly questioned Ickx's integrity, given the Belgian's ties to TAG-Porsche, to which the veteran Belgian racer replied: Senna's thoughts were mirrored, albeit less impertinently, by Arnoux with the Italian believing that the race should have at least run to the two hour time limit, instead of the hour in which it had officially lasted. Indeed, the race was so short that the organisers could only award half-points, with the race some sixteen laps shy of the 75% distance requirement to award full Championship points. Regardless, a relieved Prost had extended his Championship lead, while a furious Senna mounted the podium for the first time, alongside a delighted Bellof. However, Bellof's joy was not to last, for a month after the race his maiden podium finish was to be taken away, for the German was to be retroactively disqualified from the results following the ban of the 012 after the Detroit Grand Prix. Results The full results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car. ** Brundle and Bellof were retroactively disqualified following the "ban" of the Tyrrell 012 after the 1984 Detroit Grand Prix. Milestones * claimed their first pole position. * Twelfth victory for Alain Prost. * secured their 35th victory as a constructor. ** TAG claimed their fifth victory as an engine manufacturer. ** Michelin secured their fiftieth victory as a tyre supplier. * Ayrton Senna claimed his maiden podium finish. * earned their first visit to the podium. ** It was also engine partners 's first trip to the podium. * Senna recorded his first fastest lap award. ** Also the second and final fastest lap recorded by a Toleman chassis and a Hart engine. ** This was also the 50th fastest lap set by a car using Michelin tyres.'1984 Monaco GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), http://www.chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=1984&gp=Monaco%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 04/03/2019) * Stefan Bellof set a new record of consecutive disqualifications (6). Standings Victory, in spite of the half-points, ensured that Alain Prost retained command of the Championship, and re-established his de-facto one race advantage. Indeed, Niki Lauda was now 10.5 points behind his teammate in the title hunt, with René Arnoux a further three behind after being re-classified in third. Derek Warwick and Elio de Angelis completed the top five, level on thirteen, while Ayrton Senna leapt into the top ten with his maiden podium finish. , meanwhile, had extended their lead in the Constructors Championship, moving 22 points clear of on 46.5. The Italian team were also running with a half a point, 24.5 their total, with having lost some ground in third. Behind, and completed the top five, while climbed to seventh. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. These standings have been modified to show the Championship as it stood after the retroactive disqualification of the 012 and drivers Martin Brundle and Stefan Bellof. References Images and Videos: * F1-history, 'Martin Brundle (Monaco 1984)', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 07/03/2013), https://www.deviantart.com/f1-history/art/Martin-Brundle-Monaco-1984-358217674, (Accessed 04/03/2019) * F1-history, '1984 Monaco Grand Prix', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 05/02/2017), https://www.deviantart.com/f1-history/art/1984-Monaco-Grand-Prix-661681305, (Accessed 04/03/2019) * F1-history, 'Nigel Mansell (Monaco 1984)', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 13/09/2012), https://www.deviantart.com/f1-history/art/Nigel-Mansell-Monaco-1984-326970618, (Accessed 04/03/2019) * F1-history, 'Stefan Bellof (Monaco 1984)', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 17/09/2012), https://www.deviantart.com/f1-history/art/Stefan-Bellof-Monaco-1984-327777178, (Accessed 04/03/2019) * F1-history, 'Ayrton Senna (Monaco 1984)', deviantart.com, (DeviantArt, 01/12/2015), https://www.deviantart.com/f1-history/art/Ayrton-Senna-Monaco-1984-575643945, (Accessed 04/03/2019) References: Category:1984 Grands Prix Category:Monaco Grand Prix Category:Grand Prix articles